Ends of the Earth Cycling

Hello friends and family,
At the end of September, I had the honor and privilege of traveling to Indiana to participate in a cycling tour. 340 miles. 23,000 feet of elevation. $25,000+ raised for global youth.

And just to answer your first question: No, I was not on a bike!!

Ends of the Earth Cycling hosts five day cycling tours around the United States, with the purpose to raise awareness and support for global youth. This was their 35th tour! 
I often get the question: How does riding a bike raise money for global youth? Simply by cyclists sharing and asking partners to donate towards the ride! The donations given during this tour went to Young Life in Bolivia. We were blessed to have a speaker from YL join us on tour for a few days to share about the youth and the ways we could pray for them. She shared about many activities and events they are able to host, building relationships with students in order to share the Gospel!

So what was I doing if not riding a bike? Most days you could find me hanging out of the support van window taking photos, offering snacks & water, and ringing a cowbell with whoops & hollers of encouragement. Each evening, we worshipped together, heard testimonies from the day, and had a short lesson from someone on the tour. 

There are so many stories and details I want to share with you: Conversations with the community about why we were cycling. How a church member called to offer food and to wash laundry. How I saw cyclists persevere and push past obstacles, prayers for YL on their lips. A church that opened their doors to us, allowing 40 of us to take over their building for the week. However, I especially want to highlight one... 

 
Overcomer

Meet my roommates: Zan & Sunny (cyclist and support staff, respectively). Day three of the tour and we began the day with a long, steady hill. As Zan began up the hill, Sunny parked the car, turned up the radio, and began running beside Zan cheering. I honestly had tears in my eyes as Overcomer by Mandisa streamed out of the speakers, and Zan, spurred on by Sunny's encouragement, pedaled by--a smile on her face.  
300 miles. 23,000 ft of elevation. $31,000+ raised for Young Life: Bolivia. Those are the statistics. The stories behind the statistics...that is what makes this a trip I won’t easily forget!

In November, I spent a week at the home office in Ft. Myers, FL. What a joy it was to spend time with my team, help prepare our end of year mailing, and work on projects.  

I hope you and your family had a Happy Thanksgiving! Thank you for partnering with me to help extending the Kingdom.

Grace and Peace--Bekah